No brown apples for lunch, please!

This was a fun experiment for me!  I was at the store the other day and was looking at some Fruit Fresh.  That stuff is reallllly expensive...about $4.50 for a small shaker.  Trying to cut our expenses, I had to think rationally about this.

I thought...okay, citric acid is what keeps fruit from browning.  I know lemon juice will do this, but who wants to eat a sour piece of apple?  Then I thought....wait a second!  Lemon lime soda has citric acid in it and it tastes sweet!  Why not do a cheap experiment?  If it doesn't work, we can always drink the soda!

So I looked for the lemon lime soda that had the highest amount of citric acid.  You can tell this by the list of ingredients.  The first ingredients have the highest amounts of that ingredient.  The last ones are smallest.  I settled on Sprite because citric acid was right toward the front.  And it was on sale for 99 cents.  Here's what I did...

Pour 1/4C (or less) of Sprite into a small bowl.

Get yourself an apple, a cutting board and knife.

Be sure to use your skankiest board for God and everyone to see.

Knowing my child would never eat a whole apple, let alone a half (well, maybe), 

I opted for cutting my apple into twelve slices, creating three (4 piece) servings.

I then put the pieces into my bowl of Sprite.

And gave them a good toss.

I then portioned them into 3 small snack bags.

I sent one in Tommy's lunch the next day.

He said they tasted great.  They should...

they're doused in soda, for cripes sake!

On day two, I sent them again, but ate the last bag myself with

lunch.  Here's what they looked like.

I didn't want them getting too brown and having Tommy

not eat them at all.  They tasted perfectly fine though.

 Notes:
The next time I do this, I think I'll just cut the apple in half, cutting it into two portions, then saving half for later.  Then, when I go to use the other half (now brown on the cut part), I'll just take the thinnest slice off that brown part, then portion that into two portions.  I always make his lunch the night before, so it's easier this way.

Each one of these small portions including the pop and the snack bag cost .20 cents.  I know I can do way better by purchasing apples at Aldi's.  I got these from Bakers (Kroger) and they were really pricey.  I'll let you know the price comparison next time I pick some up.

Lastly, I think I may try the lemon juice and compare the two.  I just remember working in a restaurant as a salad wench (lol...that's what the guys called us) and they dipped their apples in bottled lemon.  It was soooo gross.  I might even try fresh lemon to compare.

Got a great tip for preserving an apple for lunch (aside from sending one whole) har de har har?  Let me know!

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